No. 3 Kentucky VB sweeps No. 2 Texas on the road to take control of SEC

Get those brooms out, Big Blue Nation!

On Sunday afternoon in Austin, TX, the No. 3 Kentucky volleyball program made a massive statement in the Southeastern Conference, sweeping the No. 2 Texas Longhorns (25-14, 28-26, 27-25) in Gregory Gym. The Wildcats cruised in the first set, but needed a few extra points to pick up wins in the second and third sets.

Kentucky was paced by a combined 38 kills by star outside hitters Eva Hudson (20) and Brooklyn DeLeye (18). As a team, the ‘Cats hit .353 while holding Texas to just a .248 hitting percentage. Freshman setter Kassie O’Brien continued her terrific rookie campaign by posting 43 assists and a team-high 11 digs.

With the win, Kentucky improved to 18-2 on the season and a still-perfect 11-0 in the SEC. It marked the 15th straight victory for the Wildcats, who will likely take control of the nation’s number two ranking once Monday’s update is released. UK is now alone at the top of the league standings as Texas (18-2) has dropped back-to-back matches after being upset by No. 9 Texas A&M on Friday.

The first set was nothing but Kentucky. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and never looked back. After going ahead 16-10, UK rattled off a 9-4 run to easily pick up an opening set win. Kentucky hit .571 in the set and did not commit a single attacking error, sucking the life out of a once-rowdy Texas crowd. The Longhorns hit just .171 in the first set, while DeLeye and Hudson combined for 11 of Kentucky’s 16 kills.

Texas showed much more fight to start the second set, but struggled to take a lead. Every time the Longhorns would tie the score up, Kentucky found a way to respond with timely points. Texas managed to knot the set at 11-11 before UK went for a knockout punch. An 8-1 run from the ‘Cats made it 19-12 advantage just like that.

But a 4-0 stretch from Texas forced Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner to call a timeout. The onslaught continued as the Longhorns took the lead 21-20 and UK had to burn another timeout. Both sides traded points from there, but after going down 26-25, Kentucky came back to sneak out a massive set two win, 28-26. UK hit just .282 and recorded seven errors in the set, but posted 18 kills to take a commanding 2-0 lead.

It was an aggressive start to a must-win third set for Texas, which struck first to go ahead 10-7. But Kentucky would hang around, finding ways to keep the score within three points. Once the Longhorns went in front 19-16, UK dug deep by scoring three straight points, tying the set for the first time since it was 4-4. A key challenge from Skinner tied the score back up at 21-21 before UK took the lead, 24-23, to set up match point.

Texas refused to go away, fighting to make it 25-25. But a DeLeye kill led to a third match point for Kentucky, which she followed up with another kill to complete the sweep of the number two team in the nation.